Automotive electric wires having a conductor and an insulator that covers the outer periphery of the conductor are conventionally known. Generally known examples of the conductors include a copper alloy stranded wire formed of a plurality of copper alloy element wires twisted together. Typically, before an automotive electric wire is routed in an automobile, a portion of the insulator at a wire end portion is removed and a terminal is crimped onto an exposed portion of the conductor.
With the recent trend toward lightweight automobiles, weight reduction of automotive electric wires is desired. One known example of techniques for reducing the weight of an automotive electric wire is the technique of reducing the diameter of the conductor.
Patent Document 1 (JP-B-3911184), which was published prior to this application, discloses a technology related to a copper foil made of a copper alloy that includes, in mass ppm, 500 to 2500 ppm of Sn, 20 ppm or less of oxygen, 2 ppm or less of hydrogen, and the balance Cu and unavoidable impurities.